Section 3: Census divisions
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Census divisions (CDs) with the highest growth rates in thepast year
Between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, nearly two-thirds of the CDs had an increase in their population. Specifically, 187 of the 288 CDs experienced positive demographic growth.
Five of the 10 CDs with the highest growth rates are in Western Canada. The number one CD in Canada is Alberta's Division No. 16 (Fort McMurray) with a growth rate of 61.7 per thousand. Manitoba's Division No. 19 (South Central) and Division No. 2 (southeast of Winnipeg) rank sixth and seventh, with growth rates of 27.6 per thousand and 26.3 per thousand, respectively. British Columbia's fastest growing CD, Squamish–Lillooet, ranked ninth nationally with a growth rate of 25.3 per thousand. Saskatchewan's fastest growing CD, Division No. 11 (Saskatoon), placed 10th with a growth rate of 24.8 per thousand.
Three of the fastest growing CDs in Canada are in Quebec. In second place, the CD of La Jacques-Cartier posted a growth rate of 42.8 per thousand. The two other Quebec CDs are Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais in third place (41.0 per thousand) and Mirabel (29.7 per thousand) in fifth place nationally. All three CDs are on the outskirts of major urban centres (the Québec, Ottawa–Gatineau and Montréal CMAs, respectively).
The only CD in the Atlantic provinces to make the list is the Queens CD (Charlottetown) in Prince Edward Island, which ranked fourth with a growth rate of 32.7 per thousand. In eighth place, the York CD (near Toronto) was the only CD in Ontario that made the list, with a growth rate of 25.8 per thousand.
In the territories, two of Nunavut's three CDs stood out because of their steady growth in the 2010–2011 period, even though that growth was less than in the previous year. The two CDs are Baffin (19.6 per thousand) and Keewatin (15.4 per thousand). Elsewhere in the North, the population increased slightly in the Yukon CD, but decreased in the three other CDs.
The census divisions with the highest rates of decline inthe past year
In the 2010–2011 period, nine of the 10 CDs with the largest rates of decline were in the Atlantic provinces. The only one not in the eastern part of the country was the Stikine CD in British Columbia, which was in first place with a rate of -30.5 per thousand. However, Stikine is a small CD, with a population of only 1,100 as of July 1, 2011. As a result, it is sensitive to even minor variations.
The Guysborough CD in Nova Scotia ranked second with a decline of -25.6 per thousand. The province also had two other CDs on the list: Cumberland (-13.7 per thousand) and Yarmouth (-13.5 per thousand), in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
Rounding out the list were four CDs in Newfoundland and Labrador and two in New Brunswick. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Division No. 9 (St. Anthony) and Division No. 8 (Springdale) both posted a rate of -16.4 per thousand and had the third and fourth highest rates of decline, respectively. Also in Newfoundland and Labrador, Division No. 2 (Marystown) and Division No. 3 (Channel–Port aux Basques) posted rates of -15.8 per thousand and -14.7 per thousand, respectively. Lastly, New Brunswick's La Restigouche CD ranked fifth (-16.1 per thousand), and its Victoria CD ranked tenth (-13.2 per thousand).
In general, CDs that registered a sharp decline in population tended to have a net loss in internal migration. In most cases, the deficit was due to a net loss in migration exchanges with the other CDs in the same province. As well, there were more deaths than births in all the CDs with the highest rates of population decline except for Stikine. Those CDs also did not benefit from international migration. Their net levels of international migration were generally close to zero.
The youngest census divisions
For the purposes of this article, median age was used as an indicator of the aging of a population. The median age is an age "x", such that exactly one half of the population is older than "x" and the other half is younger than "x".
On July 1, 2011, 85 of the 288 CDs had median ages below the national average (39.9 years). In all those CDs, the proportion of the population under 18 was larger than the proportion aged 65 or over. Six of the seven youngest CDs were in Nunavut and Manitoba. Saskatchewan, Alberta, Quebec and the Northwest Territories each had one CD on the list of the 10 youngest CDs in Canada.
Nunavut's Keewatin CD was the youngest CD in the country, with a median age of 22.6 years. Next on the list were Division No. 23 (Churchill) in Manitoba (23.6 years), Division No. 18 (La Loche and La Ronge) in Saskatchewan (23.8 years), Division No. 22 (Thompson) in Manitoba (23.9 years) and Division No. 19 in Manitoba (24.2 years).
In the eight CDs with the lowest median age in Canada, the under-18 age group made up at least one-third of the population. Conversely, people 65 or over accounted for approximately 5% of the population in those CDs.
The oldest census divisions
On July 1, 2011, 203 of the 288 CDs had median ages that were higher than the Canadian average (39.9 years). Quebec had four of the 10 oldest CDs, British Columbia had two, and Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Manitoba each had one.
The CDs with the highest median age were Haliburton in Ontario and Mékinac in Quebec, making them the oldest CDs in Canada, with a median age of 52.6 years. They were followed by Quebec's Les Basques CD (52.0 years) and British Columbia's Okanagan–Similkameen CD (51.6 years). Fifth place went to Manitoba's Division No. 1 (Alexander), with a median age of 51.5 years.
It is worth noting that the median age exceeded the symbolic threshold of 50 years in 19 Canadian CDs, 10 of which are in Quebec.
The percentage distribution of the population among the broad age groups also reflected the impact of population aging. Specifically, the proportion of people aged 65 years or over exceeded the proportion of people under 18 in 90 of the 288 CDs. The majority of the CDs in which seniors (65 or over) outnumbered young people (under 18) were in Eastern and Central Canada.
Quebec is the province with the largest proportion of CDs (42 out of 98, or 42.9%) in which seniors outnumber young people. In the Atlantic provinces, 19 of the 47 CDs (40.4%) had more seniors than young people, compared to 14 of the 49 CDs (28.6%) in Ontario. In the Prairie provinces, it was much less common for CDs to have more seniors than young people. Only 6.7% of CDs were in that situation (4 out of 60). In Alberta, young people outnumbered the elderly in all 18 CDs. The number of people 65 or over was greater than the number of people under 18 in 39.3% of the CDs in British Columbia (11 out of 28) and in none of the CDs in the three territories (0 out of 6).
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